


Oft hope is born when all is forlorn

by CharlotteDaBookworm



Series: Ardynson AU [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ardynson AU, BAMF Nyx Ulric, BAMF Serena Ulric, Chosen of Ramuh Nyx, Eventual Happy Ending, Fix-It, Fuck Bahamut, Galahdian Culture, Gen, Good Dad Ardyn, Nyx is Ardyns son
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2018-06-26
Packaged: 2019-05-19 21:06:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14881199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharlotteDaBookworm/pseuds/CharlotteDaBookworm
Summary: Nyx was ten, just starting to stumble over growing limbs and trying to grow his hair out to emulate his mother, the first time that the yellow flecks present in his eyes since birth grew and overtook the blue of his irises. He was ten - and he was injured, and he was scared - the first time that a tide rose within him and golden sparks flickered across his skin.He blows up a tree.Or the Nyx as Ardyns son AU that I was inspired to write by tumblr.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SparkleMoose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SparkleMoose/gifts).
  * Inspired by [heaven trembled & fell at our feet](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14630082) by [SparkleMoose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SparkleMoose/pseuds/SparkleMoose). 



> I don't own FFXV. 
> 
> Inspired by that time I went digging through sparklemooses tumblr and their 'ardyn has a kid' tag. Tumblr is full of enablers.

When Nyx was ten, he used magic for the first time in his life. He was ten, just starting to stumble over growing limbs and trying to grow his hair out to emulate his mother, the first time that the yellow flecks present in his eyes since birth grew and overtook the blue of his irises. He was ten - and he was injured, and he was scared - the first time that a tide rose within him and golden sparks flickered across his skin.

 

He blows up a tree.

 

To be fair, it wasn't exactly like he had _meant_ to. But he was ten and he had a gash on his arm from where he had tripped in the forest while training and his dad had startled him by appearing behind him from out of nowhere. He also hadn't exactly been _aiming_ at anything – and he certainly wasn’t trying to blow something up, especially since he hadn't even known that he had magic – but he was just scared and frustrated and the fist he threw at the figure behind him had rather more lightning behind it than he had meant it to. Instead of hitting his dick of a father – who was laughing at him for being startled instead of paying attention to his surroundings – the bolt had gone wide and slammed into a tree, and the squirrel that was perched on the tree, to the left and behind him. Only a slightly smoking, burnt crater was left.

 

 _(He had felt guilty for, apparently, attempting to blow up his father for approximately 30 seconds. Then the old man had started to critique his technique in between giggles, and comments about the now dead and rather deep fried squirrel, and insults about the pretty colour of his magic, and ideas for new training regimes focusing on magic on top of everything else. Nyx – who loved his father but also knew, even at that age, that the man was a complete bastard, and who had more than enough on his plate already_ thank you very much _\- had promptly attempted to repeat the experience and_ actually _blow his father up this time._

 

_It didn’t work._

 

_Even years later, when he’s a fully grown adult – when his father has dragged him into another of his insane plans, when the man sends him information that he certainly isn’t supposed to know and shows up in places that he definitely isn’t supposed to be, when his father gives him homework and comments on his form and asks after his love life - Nyx will regret this fact just a little._

 

_The squirrel is held against him for the rest of his life)_

 

_(In a way, it was fitting that his first use of magic would be to call upon the element of his patron._

 

_Using lightning to blow things up rather sets the scene for the rest of his life honestly)_

 

So, because of this, Nyx was ten the first time - but not the last, never the last - that his life changed.

 

He was ten when he first used magic. He was ten and he started to learn control from his father – how important it was to be able to summon a wildfire or a single spark or just enough to burn flesh from bone, about how he could create pocket space and how he could use it to store weapons and other items inside of it. He learnt that he could _feel_ the world around him - that using his magic made it feel as though he had been living the rest of his life while half-asleep, that the trees in Galahd practically sang to him and the earth beneath his feet pulsed with a hidden heartbeat. He learnt _how_ to use his magic – how to hide it and how to reach for it and how to make it instinctive and how to enhance his body with it, giving him just a little more speed or strength or faster reflexes in the heat of battle.

 

He was ten when his father sat him down and explained the burden that magic was, how easy it was to take advantage of it and be taken advantage of in turn. He was ten when he first learnt the truth of his dad’s curse – when he learnt what had actually happened with Somnus and Bahamut and the Scourge and the crystal, instead of tales of betrayal passed down from parent to child over two thousand years. When he was ten, Nyx learnt about the fall of Solheim, he learnt about a lost throne and a cursed destiny and gods that cared for nought but themselves.

 

 _(He learnt that one day, his blood may run as black as his fathers. He learnt that his father would almost certainly outlive them all. He learnt that the scourge ran through his veins, dormant but there, and that one day the illness would likely kill him. He learnt that daemons would react differently to him – that they wouldn’t attack unless he did so first, that a part of them recognised him for what he was and for what his_ father _was. He learnt that his magic itself could kill him. He learnt that the Astrals as a whole – besides Ramuh - hated his father and that his father feared that one day that hatred may transfer to him. He was ten when he learnt that there were people who would kill him simply for being born._

 

 _But it isn't until years later that he learns that, to the world and the Astrals, his father was a monster to destroy. It isn't until years later that he learns that there are people - there are_ gods _\- who expect him to stand by and watch his_ father _die, or even worse - to help kill him. One day Nyx will stand guard in a lavish hall filled with ancient portraits - he will stand guard and he will see the portrait showing his fathers execution by his_ brother _and he will have to force himself not to react and later he will realise that he would never know the full story, that he would never_ want _to know the full story._

 

 _And it isn't until decades after this day that he learns that his father_ wanted _to die, or at least the parts of him that Nyx knows best. When he learns this, Nyx will weep - because around him Ardyn was always his father first and a monster second, far more the man that Galahd once knew him as then the daemon that he had become - because this man is his father and Nyx has always put other people first and if he had asked Nyx would have given the final blow himself)_

 

When he was ten, he learned that he would always have to struggle to survive outside of Galahd.

 

Nyx Ulric – son of Alya Ulric, son of Ardyn, brother of Selena, chosen of Ramuh – was ten years old when he stopped trying to be a child and started trying to be an adult.

 

_(He was ten years old and in the back of his mind he had already decided that fate could go and fuck itself)_

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

At 18 years old, Nyx made the choice to swear himself into the service of King Regis’ Kingsglaive.

 

Looking back on it, even over a decade later and perfectly settled into his job and his life, it was a stupid choice. Of course, Nyx had already _known_ that even then, he just hadn’t cared. He hadn’t cared about the risk of discovery – of Lucis learning of his father or his magic, of Bahamut learning that he was the son of the Sage – or the Kings’ magic rejecting him – as the crystal did his father all those years ago – or anything outside of the fact that his home was gone and that he had to protect his people. He hadn’t cared. _(But his father certainly had. The man had refused to speak to him for nearly a year after that stunt, with Selena acting as a go-between for any information that needed to be passed between them)_.

 

Because he didn’t join Lucis out of some sort of loyalty – Galahd was loyal to itself first, and they had been burnt by Lucis before – or because he had wanted to fight against Niflheim – not when he struggled not to blame the Lucians as much as he blamed the Nifs – or even out of some sort of teenage rebellion. _(No matter what his father repeatedly tried to claim once he had started speaking to him again)_. He didn’t even swear his loyalty due to the life debt he owed King Regis – though he couldn't deny that that was a part of it. Nyx was a chosen of Ramuh and that means that he swore his loyalty to his people first, that all of Galahd was his to protect in the place of their god, no matter that their lands are lost – and if, by swearing himself to the Lucian Throne, he could protect even a handful more of his people then he could otherwise, then he would. And he had.

 

Nyx swore himself to the Kingsglaive to protect his people – his people who had followed in his footsteps to Insomnia, who had followed the path that their chosen had cleared for them, his people who had taken the claim of repayment and never asked more even if they wanted to. _(Galahd was matrilineal. In another life, one where he wasn't a man, Nyx would have been a King. But Galahd's last King had died not long after Nyx was born. And being born male didn't make him any less responsible for the protection of his people, losing Galahd itself didn't mean that his job had ended. All of Ramuh's chosen are protectors of Galahd, no matter their gender, from the day of their birth until the day of their death)._

 

Nyx swore himself to a good King - one who tried to be a good man - all for the good of his people.

 

_(That part he had never regretted)_

 

But it was a stupid choice. Because Nyx had gone to Lucis, had gone to Insomnia, expecting to die.

 

Because – no matter that he was certain that his blood tests would go fine, two thousand years were so distant a relation to the current Lucis Caelum line there basically wasn’t any and magic didn’t show up in blood, and that he would ace the fitness tests – Nyx had fully expected Bahamut to recognise him and strike him down. _(For his insolence, for the blood in his veins, for daring to exist at all)_

 

Because, as a child, his father had told him bedtime stories of Bahamut and his crystal and how he used it to view the world around him. Because Ramuh had recognised him for what he was the first time he had seen him – the same way that all of Galahd knew who and what his father was – and he had fully expected Bahamut to do the same. Because Nyx was the son of the Sage, the son of the _Accursed_ , and he couldn't ( _wouldn't,_ because he loved his father with everything he was, because the man was _his_ and not even betrayal could change that) change that, no matter how people outside of Galahd would react, no matter how he was certain that he would die for that fact.

 

Nyx swore himself into the service of Lucis, fully expecting to die so that his people could live. But he didn't. Somehow, everything had turned out fine - the kings magic had settled easily, the crystal had accepted him, the blood tests had turned out fine, and he had passed all of the physical tests with flying colours - and as far as Lucis was concerned he was just a normal Galahdian. And no-one had asked just _why_ he took to the King's magic the best of everyone there, the same as no-one had asked why the Galahdian people as a whole had more success with adapting to the King's magic - they all just accepted it.

 

_(Why would they? When everyone was so determined to see Galahd as nothing more than the home of savages. When history itself forgot the magic that formed the islands, forgot the power that rose them out of the sea and - even today - ran through the blood of every person born on them)_

 

When Nyx Ulric was 18 years old, he swore loyalty to the line of Lucis.

 

Nearly a decade and a half later - fresh back from another battle against Niflheim, with hints and rumours of a possible cease-fire or peace treaty in the making - while staring at the same coded note that he had read over a dozen times, he was starting to regret that decision.

 

The note was from his father _(who else would it be from?),_ written in a code - an almost unreadable mixture of Old Solheim, runes that were even older than his father, and Galahdian - that was only understandable to his immediate family and possibly a few very well studied scholars, and even the translation was vague and coded just in case _. (It isn't paranoia if you_ literally _have gods out to get you. Also, Nyx_ was not _suffering through all of those language lessons for nothing - and Selena would kill him for dragging her into them if they didn't have some kind of practical use)_.

 

_"Watch out how you are treated, beware those who come bearing gifts._

_The ants are swarming and their nests being moved east._

_A glimmering blade has been seen near you, maybe you should check it out._

_Good luck"_

 

Fuck. He had known that he shouldn't have gotten out of bed this morning.

 


	2. In which Nyx worries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nyx doesn't know what he did to deserve this.
> 
> Because, this treaty? Is obviously a trap. And he's going to have to speak to the King about it.
> 
> When did this become his life?

Nyx honestly didn't know what he had done in his life to deserve this.

 

_(Okay. That was a lie._

 

_Just being born was enough to condemn him according to most of the gods, and not attempting to stop his father was more than enough to cause most of Eos to castigate him._

 

_Nyx also knows that he isn't a particularly good person - he tries to be, mostly for those around him that he cares for, but he has always been far too much like his father - and that many would say he deserved this for that alone)_

 

_(He ignores that his father had sacrificed his soul to heal his people, that Ardyn had put his people before himself again and again. He ignores all of the times that he has thrown himself to near-certain death without a second thought just to save a life, all of the people who call him a hero and_ mean it.

 

_He ignores it because he doesn't believe it means anything._

 

_In this, Nyx is also very much like his father)_

 

Because this? This treaty is _obviously_ a trap. This is so obviously a trap that the part of him that was taught politics by Ardyn is actually offended at how obvious it is and really, what was wrong with creativity in battle strategies people? It's so obvious that Nyx has known that this was a trap since the first rumours started making there rounds about the city - even if most people still haven't noticed (and seriously, how had most of the ' _glaive_ not realised that this was a trap - if there was ever anything that proved the sheer amount of topics that his father had managed to drill into his head over the years then it was this).

 

So, even before he had gotten the note _(the note written by his father and posted to him, instead of delivered by Selena whenever she decided to pop by for a visit, and if that didn't emphasise the seriousness of this then nothing did)_ he had known that this would bring nothing good.

 

Add in the fact that Nyx _knew_ that his father was involved in this scheme - it almost literally had Ardyn written all over it, if only for the annoyance it would cause Lucis and the training opportunities it would give Nyx _(and it was times like this that he_ really _regretted missing with that lightning bolt)_ \- and he was possibly a little worried.

 

Maybe.

 

_(He knew that his father would never harm him, that - as much as the man loved to irritate him and throw him into dangerous situations for training - the man would do_ anything _in his power to keep him safe. He_ knew _that, the same way that he knew that the sun would rise and the sky was blue and water was wet and that his father loved him. He also knew that his father would never hurt anyone that Nyx had claimed as_ his _, even if only because he knew that it would hurt Nyx._

 

_But he also knew that Ardyn could burn the world down if he wanted to - and he knew that his father wasn't at all sane and that sometimes he was barely human. He knew that the man who raised him was broken - had been broken for millennia - and he didn't exactly have the best track record for making decisions._

 

_And with how much he hated Lucis, with how much he hated the Crystal and the Lucii, well._

 

_Nyx had a right to be a little worried)_

 

Which - oddly enough - wasn't actually the main problem here.

 

Instead, he was having a minor mental crisis while standing guard in the citadel, all because of _why_ he was worried.

 

Because, if something like this had happened a decade and a half ago - 10 years ago, or 5 years ago even - then his only worry would have been for his people, and all he would have done in this situation is make a few calls. Within a week - a day if it was absolutely necessary and they didn't care for stealth - every Galahdian refugee would have been evacuated from the city and taken to a secondary haven that they had spent a good number of years creating - Selena having taken the operation over when Nyx and Libertus had joined the 'glaive, having complete control over the plans with most of the members from the old Galahdian resistance helping her. Those plans had been in place since less than a year after they had come to Insomnia - they all knew how they were treated by the native Insomnians and no one had expected the Kings goodwill to last, so escape plans were made and kept constantly updated over the years as a just in case.

 

Because, once upon a time, he would have gotten his people out of the city and ignored any guilt he felt for not warning the Insomnians - that guilt and the oath he swore would have caused him to stay and fight and probably die, but his people and their safety would always be his first priority.

 

But that wasn't the case anymore.

 

Because he **wanted** to warn them. Not all of them, Six not even most of them, but a distinct few. Because, sometime in the past few years, he had claimed some of these people as _his_ and he has no idea when.

 

_(He knows when he claimed the 'glaive. Libertus had been his for as long as he could remember, and Crowe had been adopted by both of them when they were 14 after they had met the scrawny, starving 10-year-old who had saved their lives. Luche and Pelna and Petra and Sonitus and so many others were his people, were of Galahd and that made them Nyx's to protect, with genuine like growing over the years - no matter how much of a dick Luche was. Axis had had his back enough times over the years that Nyx had claimed him at some point, much like most of the non-Galahdian 'glaives._

 

_In fact, of the Glaive, only Tredd and Drautos weren't his. Tredd because he's a prejudiced arse, but Drautos? There's always been something off with Drautos - the way he fights is familiar enough that it always trips Nyx up, and something about him makes his instincts_ scream _. Not to mention the cryptic notes he's gotten from his father about the man that read as Ardyn being extremely amused by something that he doesn't know - that alone would be enough to cause him to distrust Drautos._

 

_So Nyx knows when he claimed the 'glaive._

 

_It's the others that are throwing him off._

 

_Because at some point Cor had gone from an occasional sparring partner and drinking buddy to one of his people and a good friend. At some point, King Regis had gone from a man who he served in order to keep his people safe, to a man who he served because he deserved his loyalty. At some point, Noctis had gone from a spoiled prince destined to kill Nyx's father, to a boy who was going to be sacrificed too young in order to fulfil the gods' will._

 

_At some point, he had stopped looking at the entirety of Lucis as enemies and he has no idea when)_

 

Not that it would make all that much difference to anything.

 

Nyx had claimed them. Somehow, somewhen. He was self-aware enough to know that it didn't really matter. Nyx protected his own, even if they didn't know that they were his. And nothing short of complete and personal betrayal would change that claim now.

 

_(Even if he hadn't meant to claim them. Members of the Lucis Caelum line have always been possessive of what they view as theirs - it was true two thousand years ago and it was true now._

 

_And Nyx, like his father before him, is a Lucis Caelum. They may not have the name, but they have the blood and the magic. Possessiveness was as much a part of them as their magic was)_

 

Nyx wanted to warn them.

 

**Fuck**. If he wasn't on guard duty - and thus expected to be professional and silent and composed - right now he would groan and probably slam his head into a wall for good measure.

 

He was going to have to talk to the King, wasn't he?

 

How on Eos was he going to manage that?

 

_(How had this become his life?)_

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

In the end, he decided that the easiest way to get an audience with the King would be to corner Cor.

 

Once, when he was younger, Nyx wouldn't have even considered the idea - the Marshals reputation would have been enough to make him leery. But it's really hard to be in complete awe of someone who you've spent 2 months trawling through the countryside with - constantly dodging enemy patrols, hunting for food and money, and with very few opportunities to shower. It's also extremely hard to fear someone who you've seen blind drunk and moaning about the scolding from Lord Clarus he got for being reckless on a mission, complete with the irritated eyerolls of people everywhere with overbearing family units.

 

So, since Cor was a friend, Nyx decided that he might as well just ask him - especially since it was time for their biweekly spar and bitching session - the worst the man could do was say no after all.

 

_(No matter what Crowe and Libertus say, he did_ not _spend hours agonising over how to get a meeting with the king before they reminded him that he could just_ ask _. They're just lying liars who lie)_

 

And he didn't. When Nyx brought it up - while they were between drinks and sitting in a small pub in the Galahdian sector which served decent, non-Insomnian, food -  Cor said that he would sort it out.

 

_("I need an audience with the King." He didn't speak loudly, knowing that the man across from him would hear despite the ambient noise of the pub._

 

_When all he got in response was a raised eyebrow, Nyx sighed. Cor got more talkative the more alcohol you got into him, but it was early and they'd only had a couple of drinks each. "I got a message the other day. You know, from one of my contacts outside the city," and here he waited for Cor to nod - having met a few of them while on missions together - and downed the last of his drink, "and some of the things that it said, well. I feel like the king should know. Especially with the treaty coming up," he shared a grimace with his friend at the thought._

 

_Several seconds passed with Cor just staring at him, before the man finished off his own drink and gestured for another round. He nodded. "I'll send you the details."_

 

_Nyx smirked in thanks, launching into a story about Petra pranking Tredd. He could worry about what he would say in the meeting when he knew when it was)_

 

Getting an audience with the King was apparently rather simple when the Marshal of the Crownsguard trusted that you had important information to share - which, knowing Nyx's luck and his father, was rather nice to know. Less than 18 hours later, Nyx had a text stating a time (on a date only three days away - which was a _lot_ earlier then Nyx would have gotten if he had gone the bureaucratic route), a location (also known as the Kings office), and a reminder that both Cor and Lord Clarus would also be present for the meeting.

 

Wonderful.

 

Now he just had to figure out how he was going to phrase this so that he didn't get thrown into prison or dismissed from the Kingsglaive.

 

At least he had a couple days to make some more calls and see what other information he could get about the Nif troop movements.

 

Nyx was starting to think that he hadn't thought this through properly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I didn't quite manage to get to the conversation with Regis et al but that will totally be in the next chapter. This is set in the Kingsglaive film, before Ardyn appears to announce the terms of the treaty (which may or may not happen in this AU) but there are still rumours floating about. Hope y'all like it.


	3. In which Nyx babbles and Cor is a little shit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He swears to Ramuh that he had actually thought this through. He even had a fucking plan. 
> 
> Alright, fuck the plan.
> 
> He could roll with this. Nyx had always done his best work while bullshitting anyway.

The first thing that Cor had done upon getting into his office that morning, still slightly hungover from the night before, had been to add Nyx’s meeting to Regis’ schedule. Mostly because it was too early for human interaction, being the Marshal of the Crownsguard came with some benefits (including the ability to ignore the usual piles of paperwork that were necessary for such a meeting), and if Regis had a problem with it then he would just come and complain.

 

Which is why he’s not particularly surprised when Regis walks into his office as if he owns it – which, to be fair, he does - less than two hours later, with Clarus trailing a step behind him and shutting the door.

 

“Cor. Would you care to tell me why a meeting with one of my ‘glaives has suddenly appeared on my schedule?”

 

He raised an eyebrow. “Because you have a meeting with one of the ‘glaive in three days?”

 

“Cor.” And that was the ‘I am disappointed in you’ look that Regis had perfected years ago. He restrained an eyeroll. Why he was even trying that, Cor didn’t know. He’d been immune to that since he was 15. _(It was very difficult to look at that face and not see the 20yr old Prince who was trying not to burst out laughing over a prank on Clarus)_.

 

“Your Majesty.”

 

_“Cor.”_

 

He shrugged at his king. “He asked. Which he wouldn’t have done if it wasn’t important. We’ll find out everything else at the meeting.”

 

They looked surprised – well, as surprised as two people trained to conceal their emotions since birth can be, even among friends – which would be more offensive if Cor didn’t understand what they meant. If it wasn’t a sign of how well they knew him. Because Cor didn’t trust easily. He trusted most people to do their jobs and no further, and the list of people who he trusted _personally_ could be counted on two hands. It took a great deal to earn his trust - and an even greater deal to earn his loyalty – so for him to all but _say_ that he trusted Nyx was a big thing.

 

Because he did trust Nyx.

 

_(It was the type of trust built slowly, reinforced over and over again until it was a strong as steel._

_They had spent months behind enemy lines, with only each other as back up. What had started as trust in the other to do what was necessary had grown into the trust that Nyx would have his back – that the other man would come back for him if it was necessary, that he would do whatever it took to complete the mission with no casualties. Months with no conversation than each other meant that the two had ended up learning a lot about each other, had learned to fight together, to trust in each other’s skills._

_And that trust had remained when they had gotten back to Lucis – a week ahead of schedule and with minimal injuries. It had felt like the most natural thing in the world to accept when Nyx had asked to spar with him, less than 3 weeks after they returned. Cor had been wanting to test his skills against Nyx since the first time he had seen him fight but hadn’t been able to due to the situation._

_If he was grinning at the end of the spar, if it felt perfectly normal to go and have a drink with the man afterwards, well. It was no different to what they were doing on the mission. The trust between them grew – with regular spars when both were in Insomnia and then bitching sessions over drinks afterwards – until Cor realised that he considered Nyx a friend._

_Until he realised that he_ trusted _Nyx. Trusted him_ completely _, in the same way that he did Regis and Clarus and Weskham and Cid)_

So, when Nyx had asked, Cor had known that it was important. The man had never once tried to use Cor’s connection with the King before, so when the man had looked worried – when the man had spoken of the treaty and of his contacts and of information that the King _needed_ to know – he had agreed to arrange it. Because his friend would never ask if it wasn’t necessary, and Cor didn’t need to know the details just yet – Nyx would tell him eventually.

 

“He asked.” It wasn’t a question. Regis glanced down at his phone before exchanging a _look_ with Clarus. “Sir Ulric, hmm.” He smirked, and Cor knew that he wouldn’t like what was coming next. “Are we finally going to meet one of your friends Cor? Social interaction is said to be very important for children.”

 

Cor growled. “Fuck you, old man.” He grabbed his coat in one hand and a file in another before stalking towards the door. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, your majesty. _I_ have work to do, unlike some people.”

 

He left, ignoring the grumbles of his King and the quiet chuckles of Clarus behind him.

 

\--------------------------------------

 

“Sir Ulric, you requested a meeting.” Was what greeted him the moment that he entered the office, alongside a gesture to have a seat. The King was sitting behind his rather imposing desk with Lord Clarus to his right, and Cor was leaning against the wall on his left next to a portrait.

 

“The treaty is a trap.” Nyx blurts out practically the moment he sits down in the fairly comfortable chair in front of the desk.

 

It takes all of a second for his brain to catch up with his mouth, and then he’s wishing that Bahamut would just hurry up and recognise him already so he can just die.

 

Because, he swears to Ramuh, that he had actually thought this through. He even had a fucking _plan_. And, despite all evidence to the contrary, he was actually semi-decent at politics (though not brilliant, he took after his mother far too much for that. And her idea of diplomacy involved blades at throats. But his dad had managed to drill enough lessons into politics over the years). But this wasn’t how he had planned to start this meeting.

 

The King and Lord Clarus just stared back at him blankly, nonplussed. Cor, the absolute dick, was smirking at him with his eyes – the bastard _knew_ what Nyx was like when he got stressed, knew that Nyx’s impulse control went to shit and his brain to mouth filter died a painful death, and he had always found it hilarious when Nyx started to say everything that he was thinking. There was no chance of him getting any help from that corner then. _( **Why** was he friends with that dick again?)_

_Shit_.

 

Alright, fuck the plan.

 

He could roll with this – the plan was pretty shit anyway. He should have known better than to listen to Libertus when it came to planning something; the man had many talents, forward-thinking and tactics weren’t some of them. And Nyx had always done his best work on the fly anyway. He could roll with this.

 

“It’s a trap.” He says again, straight-faced as though he wasn’t repeating both himself and the obvious like an idiot, while his mind raced – trying to figure out how he was gonna play this before deciding just to bullshit it. It was the first rule of public speaking – they don’t know it’s a mistake if you don’t tell them, just roll with it 'til it works. “But it’s an exceedingly obvious one, so I’m certain that you already know that.” Since all that gets him is a twitch of an eyebrow from Lord Clarus, basically telling him to get on with it already and stop wasting the kings time, and he can literally _feel_ Cor silently laughing at him from his position against the wall, Nyx decides to focus his attention on the King – who was who he really _needed_ to convince here.

 

“So, the fact that it’s a trap isn’t really important here. Or well, it is, but it isn’t why I asked for a meeting. What’s really important here is the _contents_ of the trap.” And that gets him the reaction that he had been waiting for, all three men straightening up and exchanging looks with each other.

 

“Explain.” Lord Clarus growls.

 

Nyx took a deep breath and steeled himself, because he couldn’t afford to be nervous right now – not in front of three men who he greatly respects, not if he wants to tell them everything they _need_ to know. (He just hopes that he isn’t going finish this month in a cell). And they _do_ need to know the full situation, because Nyx is pretty sure that it’s far worse then they’re imagining. Fuck, it’s far worse than Nyx had imagined – when he had first gotten his father’s note.

 

Because Nyx has spent the last three days gathering every scrap of intelligence he can find. Has spent the last three days basically attached to his phone – has spent the last three days calling in almost every marker he has with the hunters to get information, has spent the last three days speaking to every one of his old contacts and as many of his mothers that he could find, has spent the last three days messaging people who he hardly knows or hasn’t seen in _years_ to find out what they know. He’s hardly slept in favour of gathering and confirming as many rumours as he could while still physically present in Insomnia, has gone over everything that Selena could find out – both from _her_ contacts and by actually going out herself -  with a fine-toothed comb, searching for all of the common points.

 

Because this is so much worse than it first seemed – and fuck knows that Ardyn’s note was ominous enough. Because people are going to die, there’s no way of preventing that, but if this goes wrong then Insomnia _will_ fall and Lucis will fall with it.

_(And maybe he’s being selfish. Maybe he should just step back and let things happen. Because, while Lucis protects Galahd, they aren’t necessary. Not really, Galahd would survive without them. And Nyx_ needs _to protect his people, with everything that he is, but he doesn’t need to protect Lucis._

_But he has friends here. Has people that he cares for. And his people are_ safe _. Safe in a way that they wouldn’t be, out in the world beyond the Wall. So, he’ll take a chance – he’ll try to save them, just this once. Because they saved him, saved his people even when they didn’t need to. And Nyx has always wanted to save_ everyone _._

_And if everything goes wrong, his people will come first. Like they always have)_

“I- look.” He took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. “I’ve got some contacts outside of the city that have been keeping their ears to the ground – they’re mostly people from Galahd, distant family or close enough, and they all remember how quickly Niflheim moved on Galahd. They like to be prepared – and when they started to hear rumours they sent them on to me. And, normally, I wouldn’t put too much stock into rumours – everyone knows what the rumour mill is like and how distant from the truth it can get – but I got a message from my dad that made me dig a little deeper and, well.” _Fuck_. He hadn’t meant to mention his father. He moved on quickly, trying to cover for his mistake.

 

_(He didn’t see Cor exchange a look with Clarus and Regis, telling them not to pursue it. Cor knew his friend, knew him well enough to know that Nyx_ never _mentioned his father – not even while blind drunk. He would talk your ear off about his friends and his sister, would mention his mother in the more solemn moments, but would never mention his father. For a man like Nyx – who loved completely and unashamedly, who obviously cared for his father if mentioning a simple message was enough to make him clam up – it was an obvious tell. One that Cor had never felt the need to pursue._

_The look he got back, telling him that he would be explaining all of this later, nearly made him wince)_

 

“I’ve got corroborating rumours from over a dozen different people – people scattered across Eos, with the rumours stretching from Galahd to Tenebrae – who have never met each other, never even _heard_ of each other, but are all saying pretty much the same things.” He could literally see the meaning of that statement hit them – you learned pretty quickly that Intel didn’t just match up like that, not unless there was something big going down, and all three of them had more than enough experience with gathering intel to know that.

 

“And that? That worries me. A lot. All rumours have some truth in them, that’s how rumours get started, but with _this many_ similar rumours, and over such a large area? That doesn’t just _happen_. And what they all contain, the content that you can find in all of these rumours? That worries me even more. Because it’s not what you would expect to find for a political visit or a treaty signing. It’s certainly not what you would expect to find if you expected a stealth attack or a surgical strike. This reads more like a full-on invasion force.” He paused a moment, letting that sink in. “There are rumours of nearly a dozen airships being suddenly reassigned, of hundreds of MT’s being transported east, of daemons near Niflheim's borders suddenly disappearing, of Glauca supposedly having an important mission.”

 

The air in the room took on a solemn air as they processed the severity of what he had managed to dig up. Lord Clarus’ face may as well have been carved from stone, and Cor had that glint in his eyes that said that he wanted to go murder something, while the King seemed to have aged a decade in the last 10 minutes. Even Nyx needed a moment - it sounded so much _worse_ said aloud like this, put together and in words instead of written in black and white on scattered pieces of paper – but he still wasn’t finished.

 

“The thing is, it’s not just rumours. Not really. If you keep digging, you can confirm almost all of them. It was the hunters, both inside Niflheim and outside of it, who reported the disappearances of the daemons – ones that had hunts out on them before the disappeared, and nobody is claiming the kills. There's an increased military presence in Tenebrae – and while that _could_ be explained away by the treaty, the number of troop transports that are passing through the area really can’t be, that came directly from some Galahdians who settled on the outskirts of Tenebrae. There’s video evidence of it. My sister managed to get confirmation on the reassignment of at least 6 different airships, directly from people who she works with that have family in Niflheim.”

 

Nyx swallowed. “Literally the _only_ thing that I can’t confirm is this mission of General Glauca’s. If anyone does no anything about it, they aren’t talking about it. And I’d love for it to be nothing but a rumour – but to have one rumour that’s completely false mixed in with rumours that I can confirm…?” _What are the chances of that?_

 

His intent there was understood, judging by the even grimmer looks on their faces. _(It was understandable really, Glauca was the stuff of nightmares and he already had royal blood on his hands. No one wanted to hear that he might be nearby)._

 

He swallowed again, throat sore and voice hoarse from all of the talking that he had been doing, looking evenly back at the three most important men in Insomnia.

 

“The treaty is a trap.” He repeated his first words, but this time they settled in the room like lead.

 

The silence in the room was almost oppressive – probably _would be_ if he wasn’t used to his father and the way the man could make everything a weapon – as Cor, Lord Clarus, and the King had a silent conversation. He took the opportunity to glance around the room, taking in the rich detailing and dark woods – austerity softened by personal touches here and there, photos and drawings and small trinkets - properly now that he had said his piece.

 

He glanced back to the desk as the King spoke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not particularly happy with this chapter, but this is the 3rd rewrite and the only one that's pretty much done so... Sorry for the cliffhangerish ending, that'll be resolved in the next chapter. Probably. Whenever that'll be. Hope you like it

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is the prologue for my Ardynson AU. I totally blame sparklemoose and hamelin-born for this - they convinced me to start writing it. This chapter is mostly background info, the next is where we actually start to diverge from canon and it'll be set around the Kingsglaive movie. So, next time we will hopefully Nyx "I am 100% done with this shit, when did I claim these people as mine" Ulric trying to explain to Regis et al about how he knows the treaty signing is a trap because his dad told him. His dad that isn't on his birth certificate because he's actually the Chancellor of Niflheim and did he never mention this *cough, shifty-eyes*.
> 
> Hope y'all like it. Tell me what you wanna see. I have a tumblr under the same name that I sometimes post snippets to. Thanks for reading


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